If wind power is competitive, why pay so much?

The Oil Drum has an interesting article on the economics of wind power. The writer, who openly discloses his involvement with financing wind farms, makes some good points. It is definitely worth a read.

One of the things in the article that struck me was this claim:

The most recent Energy Outlook by the International Energy Agency suggests that wind power currently costs €60/$80 per MWh, which makes it, today, pretty close to what the traditional generation sources (nuclear, coal, gas) cost…

Nuclear, hydro and coal currently provide most of the baseload generating capacity in Ontario at an average retail rate of 5.7 ¢/kWh. Why would we agree to pay a wholesale rate of 13.5 ¢/kWh to 19 ¢/kWh for wind under the proposed Feed-In Tariff Prices for Renewable Energy Projects?